Sound Transit held a media event underneath Pine Street, next to I-5, this morning, at the site of Brenda’s final breakthrough into the Pine Street Stub Tunnel, from where this photo was taken; local transit dignitaries also made some remarks. The face of the cutter head will be unmounted and rolled to the right (as we look at it) then hoisted up a shaft. The innards of the TBM will be similarly removed, but the shell will be entombed as part of the permanent tunnel wall.
I’ll post more photos this evening. Thanks to Sound Transit for having us there.
UPDATE: More photos.
Hope there’s not much Cooper in that shell otherwise someone will steal it. /Snark.
Oops – Copper!
That’s only if they use a Tunnel Barreling Machine.
Good one, Patrick.
Yep, so all of the TBM gets extracted except for the cylindrical pressure shell.
And for as long as Link is in operation all the SB trains will be passing through the shell of Brenda. Very fitting I would say given what a good job she did. RIP Brenda.
Similar TBM shells are in the walls immediately west of Westlake station when the DSTT tunnels were completed prior to 1990.
Too bad they couldn’t fit a platform in there and connect it to Convention Place Station.
Why is it not possible for an infill station?
Because you’d need to mine out underneath the Paramount Theater, an apartment building, and part of the Convention Center, as well as dig up all of Pine Street between I-5 and 8th Ave, to construct the platform. As well as truncate Link to Stadium Station for months while you do it because there would be nowhere else to turn trains due to lack of a crossover in the DSTT.
You really do take good photos, Bruce.
Perhaps he could teach Roger how to capture non-blurry, high-res photos.
Yes, they are good photos.
I particularly liked The End. :)
Dang it. I pegged the breakthrough date as 11 May. Close! And that was two months out.
It actually broke through awhile ago. This was just a media event.
Man, that really is a four-mile tunnel right through the middle of Seattle, and right past many of today’s worst transit nightmares!
Right there!
There it is!
Awesome!
Does anyone know how soon ST will be able to start turning three-car trains again in the stub tunnel?